Even with the addition of Syracuse – a Final Four participant last season – and fellow NCAA tournament teams Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, perennial league favorite Duke is once again the team to beat this season.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils picked up 50 of the 54 votes cast Wednesday at the league’s Operation Basketball media event to top the preseason poll for the 14th time. Only rival North Carolina, with 20 selections, has been selected as the preseason favorite more.

Syracuse, in its first year as an ACC member, came in a distant second to Duke while picking up three first-place votes. The Orange did, however, pick up the league’s top individual honor when senior forward C.J Fair was selected as the league’s preseason Player of the Year in a tight vote over Virginia’s Joe Harris.

Following Duke and Syracuse in the preseason poll were North Carolina, which picked up the only other first-place vote, Virginia, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Boston College and Florida State. N.C. State, which topped last year’s balloting, slipped all the way to 10th place this year with the loss of four starters, while Georgia Tech, defending ACC champion Miami, Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia Tech round out the rankings.

C.J. Fair led Syracuse to the Final Four last season

In the individual voting, Fair was the choice on 17 Player of the Year ballots, one more than Harris. Rodney Hood, who has yet to play his first game for Duke, received seven votes while his freshman teammate Jabari Parker got five and BC point guard Olivier Hanlan got three.

Parker was the overwhelming choice for preseason Rookie of the Year with 52 votes. Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis was the only other freshman to receive a vote.